The Importance of Technology in Education
The primary takeaway from this course for me is the importance of technology in enriching education for children, and documenting student learning. Prior to the learning that took place in this course, I envisioned the use of technology in younger grades as unnecessary and difficult to authentically implement to maximize learning and understanding for students. My limited perspective of technology in elementary classrooms revolved around utilizing computers and iPads for inessential reasons; reasons that did not enhance student learning, but rather decrease it due to the overly sensory and distractive elements technology provokes. This novice perspective on technology in education has changed as a result of the ample learning I received in this course, as well as observing my mentor teacher utilize technology in a variety of ways to enrich and amplify the learning experience for each student.
I have come to realize the importance of technology in education to authentically enrich learning for students and document learning to place an imprint on major and critical artifacts related to student learning. Through the use of SMART Boards, creative applications, IRIS, Twitter, PowerPoint, etc., we are able to magnify student learning, thus contributing to the betterment of their understanding through engaging, creative, and appealing ways of applying technology to the classroom. In regard to showcasing student learning, there are a variety of methods to convey and communicate learning progress for documentation and to exhibit evidence of learning such as Twitter and IRIS.
My practicum mentor teacher also uses IRIS to involve students in discussing and showcasing what they learned. For example, one task was for students to share and throughly explain the elements in their personal Story Robes for Social Studies. This provides students with an opportunity to authentically share their knowledge by telling.
During my time in practicum, I utilized the SMART Board quite often to explain and clarify concepts, showcase clear samples of work to reflect learning targets, and model specific directions for learning tasks. The ways in which I utilized the SMART Board to enrich and make learning clear to students fostered self-directed learning as a result of providing direct and explicit facilitations with this technological tool.
Nearing the end of practicum, students utilized computers to complete a Digital Escape Room revolving around math. The use of computers in this case provided an immersive and engaging experience for students to solve questions requiring a higher-level of thinking, thus enriching learning to allow for productivity.
I have come to realize the importance of technology in education to authentically enrich learning for students and document learning to place an imprint on major and critical artifacts related to student learning. Through the use of SMART Boards, creative applications, IRIS, Twitter, PowerPoint, etc., we are able to magnify student learning, thus contributing to the betterment of their understanding through engaging, creative, and appealing ways of applying technology to the classroom. In regard to showcasing student learning, there are a variety of methods to convey and communicate learning progress for documentation and to exhibit evidence of learning such as Twitter and IRIS.
Technology Use in Practicum
My practicum mentor teacher utilizes Twitter as one method to showcase and share student learning, which I carried forward and applied to my practice in order to exhibit what I taught and what students learned during practicum. Therefore, my twitter account is condensed with daily updates of student learning stemming from the lessons I facilitated.My practicum mentor teacher also uses IRIS to involve students in discussing and showcasing what they learned. For example, one task was for students to share and throughly explain the elements in their personal Story Robes for Social Studies. This provides students with an opportunity to authentically share their knowledge by telling.
During my time in practicum, I utilized the SMART Board quite often to explain and clarify concepts, showcase clear samples of work to reflect learning targets, and model specific directions for learning tasks. The ways in which I utilized the SMART Board to enrich and make learning clear to students fostered self-directed learning as a result of providing direct and explicit facilitations with this technological tool.
Nearing the end of practicum, students utilized computers to complete a Digital Escape Room revolving around math. The use of computers in this case provided an immersive and engaging experience for students to solve questions requiring a higher-level of thinking, thus enriching learning to allow for productivity.
I have positively altered my perspective of technology by experiencing this course, as well as practicum. My vision of technology use in elementary classrooms has shifted significantly, as a result of enlightenment through learning, observing, and applying/using technology for the purpose of enriching and showcasing student learning. My experiences this semester have ultimately led to the shift in my perspective of technology use in elementary classrooms, thus constructing my teacher growth mindset.
Reflecting on Essential Question
My essential/burning question I gave rise to in my first blog post centered around ensuring the use of technology in elementary classrooms remains productive to connect to the learning purpose, and does not divert students' focus away from their learning. I informally discussed this overarching notion above, as it reflects my initial perspective of technology in elementary education prior to taking this course and experiencing practicum. Therefore, my synthesis and analyzation of this course and practicum allows me to indirectly answer my essential question: due to what I learned across three months of this course (theory) and practicum (practice), technology does not divert students' focus away from their learning if utilized properly and appropriately.
My Learning
Teamwork and collaboration was a major component to this course, as well as practicum. Whether the collaboration occurred with my fellow teacher candidates or my mentor teacher, there were always ideas being shared between individuals. By placing myself in the mindset of considering others' ideas, my realm of knowledge was able to expand due to new, insightful, and beneficial suggestions that contribute to the betterment of my learning as a future educator, as well as my students' learning to maximize their understanding. Furthermore, by sharing my ideas to amplify and extend others' pedagogical practices, I am reciprocating the notion of expanding knowledge, and being lifelong learners.
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